Tina joined Bette at the door.  Bette took the shell from Tina and passed the still burning sage onto her shell.  The two bundles sparked and glowed before settling.  Bette placed Tina’s shell on a hall shelf and took her hand.  They returned to the living room and just as Bette was about to place the sage on a table, Tina requested, “One more.”  She fanned the sage and said, “Help me to remember that you’re unstoppable at work.  That you love what you do and it is important to who you are.”

Bette smiled, happy that Tina would offer up such a wish.  She had one of her own.  “Help me to see and acknowledge the good work you do for the community, our friends, and our home.  Your contributions make everything and everyone better.”

Bette placed the shell on the table in front of the sofa, then guided Tina beside her.  Bette’s arm was stretched out on the back of the sofa, but when she pulled Tina closer, she put her arm around her shoulders.  The smell of the burning sage had left them both moving in slow motion and slightly slurring their words with a thick, drowsy tongue.  “I don’t know.  Somehow I really feel at peace and safe; cleansed.  What do you think?”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

Bette turned to her just as Tina moved her head to face Bette.  Instantly, Tina leaned in and kissed her. Tina’s tongue demanded entry and Bette parted her lips.  She fell back onto the sofa, pulling Tina along with her.  Tina grasped Bette’s face in her hands, keeping her still, unmoving, while she pressed her mouth against hers, pushing her tongue deeper into her mouth, bruising their lips with the intensity of the kisses.  Bette moaned beneath her.  “Ohh.”

Usually, it was Tina who was vocal during their lovemaking, but tonight, she was quiet, though her passion was steadily escalating, becoming bolder, and more insistent.  She moved her hands from Bette’s face.  One hand slid down Bette’s torso, then back up to her breast.  Tina’s hand stilled there, not a flinch, not a caress for long moments.  Bette and Tina held their collective breaths.  Then suddenly, her hand was in motion—squeezing, rubbing, and massaging the full breast through the T-shirt.  Bette groaned.  How she had missed this touch.  She tried reaching for Tina’s T-shirt, but Tina used her forearm to block the questing hand.  Bette laughed at her and lay back with her head propped against the arm of the sofa.  Inching her way down Bette’s body, Tina’s hand moved to the hem of the T-shirt and pushed it up.  Both hands now were on Bette’s bra-covered *****.  “Oh, God,” Bette said in the middle of a long moan. With one forceful movement, Tina pushed the bra up and over the heavy *****.  She looked at them with hooded eyes, before bending to pull a nipple into her mouth.  Finally, Tina groaned.  “Oh, yesss,” she hissed out.  As Tina’s mouth savored one than the other, Bette’s head whipped from side to side. Tina felt Bette’s hips rise, pressing into her, pushing against her leg while she moaned.  Tina’s eyes moved up to look at Bette’s face and saw her lover smiling.  It was the smile that Tina loved to see.  Her mouth was parted, almost a look of surprise, but all of her teeth showed and the smile was one of a person lost in their own paradise.  “I love your smile.  When we make love, you look so happy,” Tina said.